Jesus Is Life By Fr. John Bostwick, O. Praem. Homilies and Reflections by the Norbertines in De Pere, WI

Read the Beatification Reflection that was highlighted in the last issue of Abbey Magazine

Jesus Is Life

By Fr. John Bostwick, O. Praem.

In Jesus Christ, “God became man not to make bad men good but to make dead men live”.

It is really easy to slip into our habitual way to seeing things - that is, to place ourselves in the center, to focus primarily on human morality, human behavior, human responses - in short, to hear this gospel passage as a story about Lazarus and his sisters - and a wonderful thing that happened to them, a miracle!

And all that is natural, understandable. Lazarus died; his sisters are upset; they have questions: Why didn’t Jesus come early to help them? What will Jesus do now? Martha and Mary and Lazarus and their concerns are there and are part of the story - but the story is not really about them. Martha, Mary, even Lazarus are not the point, not the focus. This story is Good News; it is Gospel, Good News about JESUS!

In John’s Gospel the seven events that focus on the first half of his gospel are never simply miracles, wonderful events in the lives of certain people. John calls them signs. Naming these events signs draws our attention beyond the miracle to its source. It focuses our attention on Jesus Himself.

This Good News about the Raising of Lazarus is not about something nice Jesus did for his friends; nor is it simply about their faith, as important as faith is; but this story is the clear and unambiguous announcement that JESUS IS LIFE! As Jesus tells us, “I am the resurrection and the life’

Jesus-Who-Is-Life confronts death. Death is defeated. Lazarus lives in Christ. This triumph of Christ-Who-Is-Life over death is the climax of the first half of John’s Gospel. We will see that the second half of John’s Gospel builds to another confrontation between Life and death in Christ’s own body -Christ is life. And life wins. Christ’s victory over death for Lazarus foreshadows and prepares us for that ultimate victory of Easter and zeros in on the core of the Gospel message: In Jesus Christ, “God became man not to make bad men good, but to make dead men live”.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Fr. John Bostwick, O. Praem.,

was ordained in 1976. He is a graduate of St. Norbert College (theology) and pursued graduate studies at St. John's University, Catholic Theological Union, St. Mary's College(M.A. Counseling) and the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. Notre Dame Academy (Premontre High School) was home for Fr. John for almost twenty years where he served as a teacher, counselor and director of counseling. Since joining the St. Norbert College community, Fr. John has served as director of campus ministry and parish administrator and currently teaches courses in religious studies. His involvement within the Order is extensive, having been a member of the Abbey's Liturgical Commission and Vision and Strategic Planning Committee as well as the director of the Norbertine Center for Spirituality where he currently serves as a spiritual director.